Objective To explore the reasonable radiologic nodal size criterion of retropharyngeal lymph node (RLN) metastasis in patients with nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC).Methods Imaging and clinical data of 817 NPC patients were analyzed retrospectively.The patients with RLN metastasis were classified into two groups according to the nodal size of 5 mm or 6 mm as standard in diagnosis.Overall survival (OS),distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) and the local-relapse-free survival (LRFS) were assessed between the two groups taking 5 mm or 6 mm as standard in diagnosis of RLN.Results No significant difference was found for OS,DMFS,LRFS between nodal size ＜5 mm group and ≥5 mm group.Difference of OS (P＜0.001),DMFS (P=0.001) were significant statistical and difference of LRFS (P=0.380) had no significant statistical between nodal size ＜6 mm group and ≥6 mm group.OS,DMFS,LRFS were not an independent prognostic factor for NPC.Conclusion Using the minimal axial diameter of 6 mm as the nodal size criterion in diagosis of RLN metastasis in patients with NPC may be more reasonable.

Objective To find the effective quantitative parameters for the differentiation of the breast lesions using the post-processing of time.signal curve of 3D dynamic-enhanced MRI.Methods Thirty patients with 35 lesions underwent 3D dynamic-enhanced MRI and the time-signal cHIve was deduced.The four quantitative parameters including SImax,PH,Slope and SlopeR were analyzed in benign andmalignant lesions of the breast.Independent samples t test and rank sum test were used for the statistics.Results Seyenteen benign lesions and 18 malignant lesions were included in this study.The SImax(M)of benign and malignant lesions were 375.2 and 158.1,the 95% confidence intervals of SImax were 278.2-506.0 and 160.5-374.8.The PH(M)of benign and malignant lesions were 114.4 and 87.8,the 95% confidence intervals of PH were 73.7-196.5 and 71.3-162.9.The Slope(M) of benign and malignant lesions were 22.3×10-3 and 44.0×10-3,the 95% confidence intervals of Slope were 13.7×10-3-41.1×10-3 and 46.1×10-3-81.8×10-3.The Slope"(M) of benign and malignant lesions were 2.6 and11.4,the 95% confidence intervals of SlopeR were 1.9-3.4 and 9.8-14.5.There were no significant differences on SImax and PH between benign and malignant lesions(P>0.05).The significant differences existed on Slope(P<0.01)and SlopeR(P<0.01)between benign and malignant lesions of the breast.Conclusion SlopeR is a very effective parameter in t}le differential diagnosis of breast lesions.

OBJECTIVETo compare quantitatively the enhanced thin CT section with pathologic findings in pulmonary carcinoma, pulmonary inflammatory pseudotumor (IPT) and pulmonary tuberculoma so as to demonstrate the relation of degree of enhancement and the vascular structure within the lesion with special emphasis on pulmonary carcinoma.

METHODSEnhanced thin CT sections were obtained in 35 cases with nodular or patchy lesions in the peripheral lung field which are difficult to differentiate clinically. There were pulmonary carcinoma 21, inflammatory pseudotumor 7 and tuberculoma 7. The number of small vessels (inner diameter 0.02 approximately 0.1 mm), relatively large vessels (inner diameter > 0.1 mm) and their vascular bed areas were analyzed by computed image analyzing system. The relation between CT average attenuation and the number of vessels or the vascular bed areas were statistically evaluated.

RESULTS1. The differences of average attenuation in carcinoma, inflammatory pseudotumor and tuberculoma were statistically significant (P < 0.05). 2. The differences in number of small vessels, relatively large vessels and vascular bed areas among these three types of lesion were also significant (P < 0.05). 3. A positive correlation was found in the average CT affenuation of lung carcinoma and its number of small vessels and relatively large vessels and 4. A positive correlation was found between the average CT attenuation in these three lesions and the relatively large vessels, total vascular amount and vascular bed areas.

CONCLUSIONS1. The average degree of attenuation, being divided into four degrees, is of practical value in the differentiation of lung carcinoma, inflammatory pseudotumor and tuberculoma. 2. The average CT attenuation of lung carcinoma, inflammatory pseudotumor and tuberculoma is in direct proportion to the number of vessels and vessel bed areas and 3. The characteristic CT enhancement in lung carcinoma reflexes the condition of vessels and blood supply within the tumor.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Lung ; blood supply ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Lung Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Plasma Cell Granuloma, Pulmonary ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; methods ; Tuberculoma ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology

Objective:To explore the clinical application values of a nomogram based on preoperative breast MRI and axillary ultrasonography imaging parameters for predicting the risk of sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastasis in early-stage breast cancer patients.Methods:Three hundred and ninty-seven female patients (mean age 48.0±10.7 years old, range 25-81 years old) who admitted to Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center from May 2007 to December 2017 were enrolled in this study. All patients were diagnosed as primary unilateral invasive early-stage breast cancer confirmed by surgical pathology. Preoperative breast MRI, axillary ultrasonography and clinical pathological data of enrolled patients were retrospectively analyzed. According to the pathological results of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), the cases were divided into negative SLN group ( n=200) and positive SLN group ( n=197). Clinicopathologic data, MRI and axillary ultrasound features were analyzed and compared between two groups. Logistic regression analysis was used to select independent risk factors. Then a predictive model was constructed and a nomogram was made for visualizing the associations between the predictive factors and SLN metastasis. Goodness-of-fit of the model was evaluated by using the Hosmer-Lemeshow test. Predictive performance was assessed based on the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Bootstrap resampling was performed for internal validation. Results:Significant differences were found in patient age, lymphovascular invasion status, PR status, HER2 status and molecular subtype between negative and positive SLN groups (all P<0.05); MRI features including tumor size, mass margin, long and short diameter, as well as the ratio of long to short diameter of LNs, LN margin, presence or absence of LN hilum, and axillary LNs symmetry were found significantly different between negative and positive SLN groups (all P<0.05); as for the axillary LN ultrasonography parameters, the interface between cortex and medulla, presence or absence of cortical thickening, and LN hilum were significantly different between negative and positive SLN groups (all P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis results showed that several factors could be identified as predictors of SLN metastasis, including patient age, MRI features (lymph node margin, presence or absence of lymph node hilum, and lymph node symmetry), axillary ultrasonography descriptors (presence or absence of cortical thickening) and pathological factors (lympovascular invasion, PR and HER2 status). The nomogram with patient age and the above imaging factors showed good,prediction performance with the area under the ROC as 0.778. Combining with the pathological parameters, the prediction performance of the nomogram model was significantly improved, yielding the area under the ROC of 0.866. Conclusions:The nomogram based on breast MRI and axillary ultrasonography can be applied as a noninvasive quantitative tool to predict the risk of SLN metastasis in early-stage breast cancer, which may facilitate decision-making for axillary treament strategy preoperatively.